Bothriochloa barbinodis
Bothriochloa bladhii
beard grass, cane beardgrass, cane bluestem
Australian beardgrass, Australian bluestem, Caucasian bluestem
60-120 cm tall, rarely more than 2 mm thick, erect, geniculate at the base, often branched at maturity, not glaucous below the nodes;
nodes hirsute, hairs 3-4 mm, mostly erect to ascending, tan or off-white.
40-90(150) cm, usually erect;
nodes glabrous or short hispid, with mostly appressed, less than 2 mm hairs.
cauline;
ligules 1-2 mm, often erose;
blades 20-30 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, not glaucous, glabrous or sparingly pilose near the throat.
cauline;
ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;
blades (10)20-35(40) cm long, 1-4.5(5.5) mm wide, mostly glabrous.
5-14(20) cm on the larger shoots, oblong to somewhat fan-shaped, silvery-white;
rachises 5-10 cm, straight, exserted or partially included in the sheath, with numerous branches;
branches 4-9 cm, erect, with several rames;
rame internodes with a membranous groove wider than the margins, margins densely pilose, longest hairs 3-7 mm, concentrated distally.
5-15(24) cm, elliptic to lanceolate, reddish at maturity;
rachises 6-12(20) cm, with numerous branches;
branches 3-7 cm, shorter than the rachises, erect to spreading during anthesis, with axillary pulvini, lower branches with multiple rames;
rame internodes with darkened grooves, with sparse, about 1 mm marginal hairs.
spikelets 4.5-7.3 mm;
lower glumes short pilose, with or without a dorsal pit;
awns 20-35 mm;
anthers 0.5-1 mm, often remaining within the spikelet.
spikelets 3.5-4 mm, oblong-ovate;
lower glumes glabrous or scabrous, with or without a dorsal pit;
awns 10-17 mm, twisted, geniculate;
anthers 1-2 mm.
spikelets 3-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, sterile.
spikelets about the same size and shape as the sessile spikelets, or about 1/2 their size, staminate or sterile.
= 180.
= 40, 60, 80.
Bothriochloa barbinodis
Bothriochloa bladhii
Bothriochloa barbinodis is a common species, at 500-1200 m, along roadsides, drainage ways, and gravelly slopes in desert grasslands, from the southwestern United States through Mexico and Central America to Bolivia and Argentina, and has been found in the Hawaiian Islands. Plants with a pit on the back of their lower glumes occur sporadically; they do not differ in any other respect from those without pits. The species is sometimes used as an ornamental. It is tolerant of coastal conditions and will grow as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia.
Bothriochloa barbinodis has been confused with three other species in the Flora region. It differs from B. wrightii in not having glaucous foliage, and in having oblong to merely somewhat fan-shaped panicles with pedicellate spikelets that are definitely shorter than the sessile spikelets; from B. aha in having shorter culms, panicles, and nodal hairs; and from B. springfieldii in having taller culms, wider leaves, shorter nodal hairs, and more, less hairy panicles branches.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Bothriochloa bladhii grows along roadsides and in rangeland pastures, waste ground, and open disturbed areas, at 150-1800 m. It is native to subtropical Asia and Africa and was introduced to the Flora region as a forage grass. It is now established in the southern and central United States. A similar species, B. decipiens (Hack.) C.E. Hubb., has been grown at some experiment stations in the United States. It is not known to be established in North America. Bothriochloa decipiens differs from B. bladhii in having longer (4.7-5.3 mm) sessile spikelets and a single anther.
The Eastern Hemisphere species of Bothriochloa are thought to be closely related to Capillipedium and Dichanthium, largely because B. bladhii hybridizes with those genera as well as with B. ischaemum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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